Trump Says He’s ‘Angry’ At Putin’s Remark Questioning Zelensky’s Legitimacy

Pitin Trump — President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Osaka, Japan, in June 2019. (Susan Walsh/AP)

By Cleve R. Wootson Jr.

President Donald Trump said Sunday he was “angry” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and added that the White House would considermore tariffs on Russian oil if he believed Putin was holding up a peace agreement with Ukraine.

“You could say that I was very angry, pissed off, when Putin said yesterday that — you know, when Putin started getting into [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s credibility, because that’s not going in the right location, you understand?” Trump said during a phone interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Sunday morning.

Trump said he would consider putting secondary tariffs on Russian oil — or penalties on other countries that buy oil from Russia — if he and Putin couldn’t come to terms “on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine” and “if I think it was Russia’s fault.”

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States, there will be a 25 percent tariff on all — on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil,” Trump said. He also said he plans to speak to Putin this week.

The comments mark a change from a softer approach toward Russia and its president than Trump has taken in the first two months of his new administration. White House policy changes have ushered in a world more amenable to Moscow, and weakened the alliance opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

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